In the Old Testament, God raised prophets every once in a while to remind people of who they are, and how they should live and behave. When a prophet prophesises, the prophet says: "It is the Lord who speaks", to emphasise that the prophecy is not the prophet's own words or invention, but it is God who speaks through the prophet.
Today's reading not only demonstrates this point, but it also gives the people hope of the future where something wonderful is about to happen, where there will be restoration and blessings to come. However, such hope comes with conditions attached. The people are foretold of the will of God and his future plans for his people, and that they are to cooperate with God’s intentions through prayer, patience, persistence, and obeying with faithfulness. Also, the people are foretold of what needs to be done in the present, where they are to called to repentance and to go back to the ways of the Lord. This means that, in a nutshell, the people need to do their part with cooperation and repentance, for the prophecy to be fulfilled.
In our present times, such prophecies of hope were fulfilled when Jesus came, to bring us out of mourning and sadness, and lead us to rejoicing and gladness. Jesus came to save us from our sins and restore our relationship with God. The question is: are we cooperating with repentance, so that Jesus could transform us and help us?
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